Office of Governor Robert Bentley/Jamie MartinGov. Robert Bentley signs the Immigration Bill into law, Thursday, June 09, 2011, in the Old House Chamber at the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery. Looking on, left to right, are: State Senator Scott Beason, Representative Kerry Rich and Representative Micky Hammon.

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- A U.S. Justice Department request to stay Alabama's immigration law pending the outcome of its appeal should not be granted, lawyers for the stated argued Tuesday.

In a filing this afternoon, Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange said the federal government's request should be denied since a federal judge rejected much of the same argument last week.

Last Wednesday Judge Sharon Lovelace Blackburn denied the Justice Department's request to block the law from going into effect and left much of it intact, including measures governing schools, immigration law enforcement, contracts and business transactions.

The Justice Department and a group of 36 plaintiffs are appealing Blackburn's decision to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. The plaintiffs' group is also asking Blackburn to stay her order pending that appeal.

But Alabama's lawyers say those arguments fail to show any injury that the law will cause and they contend given last week's results, it is not likely the plaintiffs will prevail on the appeal.

"Now there have been express findings that the United States is not entitled to relief on the sections in question, and that it is not likely to succeed on the merits of those challenges," the state's filing argues. "Those findings were not made hastily or in a vacuum, but after the Court's consideration of hundreds of pages of argument and briefing. "What purpose will the prior eight weeks of advocacy and judicial consideration have served if the United States is given what, pursuant to the results of that process, it is not legally entitled to receive?"

The Justice Department argues that states cannot set up separate immigration enforcement systems and that immigration policy is the exclusive province of the federal government.

Similar challenges to the immigration laws in Arizona, Georgia, Indiana and Utah have been blocked by federal courts.